Zhao is stronger than Wei, why is Wei used far more than Zhao as a country name?

Mondo History Updated on 2024-02-02

Why is there no country name called Han after the Qin and Han dynasties in China? Why is the name of the powerful Chu State used very little in later generations? Qi is much stronger than Lu, why is the abbreviation of Shandong not Qi?

Zhao is stronger than Wei, why is Wei far more than Zhao as a country name? What were the great powers during the Warring States period, and what were the inheritances and developments of their national names in history?

In history, only one Chu state name has been used only once, which just explains why the Chu state, which is comparable to the Qin state, was used far less frequently than Yan Zhao Weiqi in later generations.

Although the three country names Zhao, Qi, and Shu have all been used twice, this does not explain why the abbreviation for Shandong Province is not "Qi", because in reality, the state of Qi is much more powerful than the state of Lu.

In this category, Zhou, Liang, Jin, Qin, Song, Wu, and Tang are the most commonly used country names. Among them, Jin, Wu, and Tang originated from the ancient kingdom of the Spring and Autumn Period, and Zhou was the suzerain of the world at that time.

Liang, on the other hand, represented Wei and was widely used during the Warring States period along with Qin and Song.

Most of the country names in the Northeast are derived from Yandi, because Yandi is superior in location and easy to divide, and the Xianbei Murong clan has established five Yan countries. Why is the name of Wei, a powerful country in the Central Plains, used as many as 5 times, and even added the synonym "Liang" up to 8 times?

Although Yan is not a strong country, because of its geographical advantages, most of the octainters of Yan land use "Yan" as the country name. And the Wei State, which was not the most powerful Warring States State, why was the name of the country so favored?

Zhao Wei had a deep blood relationship, and the land of the Jin Kingdom was divided between the Zhao, Wei, and Han families, forming the Warring States Period.

The Three Kingdoms were divided into Jin: Although the three kingdoms of Wei, Zhao, and Han divided the Jin Kingdom, the land they acquired was not the same. The state of Wei, which received the most land, including the western part of present-day Shanxi and the northern part of Henan, had the strongest strength and became the overlord in the early Warring States period, which was unrivaled.

South Korea, the land allocated is close to Zhou Tianzi's territory, and it is the richest land in the world and enjoys rich resources. And the Zhao State, although the territory is barren, but they became stronger and stronger in the battles in the north, and finally surpassed the Wei State in terms of national strength and territory, which became an irony of history.

Why is Zhao Guo not as good as Wei Duo? During the Warring States Period, Zhao was strong and Wei was weak, why was Wei far more than Zhao in later generations? This question deserves our in-depth understanding. Wei had more opportunities to appear than Zhao, and in the wars of the last years of the Western Jin Dynasty, Wei established power earlier than Zhao.

History is like this, there is no fixed answer to many things, we need to continue to explore and learn.

Liu Yuan revered Han Gaozu very much, and he regarded "the gods of the three ancestors and five sects below Han Gaozu" as an important part of the national sacrifice, which clearly showed his blood relationship with Liu Bang.

Not only that, but he also sacrificed Liu Bei and Liu Chan, and expressed his disapproval of Cao Wei and the Western Jin Dynasty. Therefore, he called himself the "King of Han" and later established the Han state, fulfilling his dream of an empire.

The Han and Zhao regimes, founded by Liu Yuan and under the name "Han", aimed to gain the support and legitimacy of the Han Chinese. However, with the fall of the Western Jin Dynasty and the southward movement of a large number of Han Chinese, Liu Yuan believed that there was no longer a need to rely on the Han people, and that the "Han" country name did not match Liu Bang's ancestors.

Therefore, he decided to abandon the "Han" national name and use "Zhao" as the national name instead. Behind this decision, Liu Yao, as a Southern Xiongnu, believed that he was a Zhao person, and his hometown belonged to Zhao during the Warring States Period, so it was more appropriate to use "Zhao" as the country name.

Even if you can't take "Xiongnu" as your country name, you must use "Zhao" as your country name.

During the Warring States Period, the second reason for the Zhao State was the influence of the Southern Xiongnu. At that time, the Southern Xiongnu were already very sinicized, and they adopted Confucianism's "Five Virtues and Beginning Theory".

This is a theory of the Yin-Yang family, which holds that successive dynasties have an alternate process, and this process is determined by the five elements. In his "A Brief History of China with a Smile on Ma Boyong", Ma Boyong talked at great length about the five virtues of various dynasties.

According to this doctrine, the Qin Dynasty belonged to Shuide, the Han Dynasty to Huode, Cao Wei to Tude, and the Western Jin Dynasty to Jinde. I don't quite understand the relationship between these four dynasties, but I know that water gives birth to wood, wood gives birth to fire, fire gives birth to earth, earth gives birth to gold, and gold gives birth to water.

That is to say, wood grows out of water, and wood can burn flames and flames, and the flames burn into dust, and gold can be dug out of the dust, and the gold is melted and turned into molten iron.

The reason why Liu Yao changed his name to Zhao Guo was that the five elements were mutually reinforcing, and he recognized the orthodox status of the Western Jin Dynasty, which belonged to "gold", and gold gave birth to water, so he thought that he should be a water virtue.

According to the Book of Changes, the character Zhao was identified as water-based, so he chose "Zhao" as his surname. He believed that this was providential, so he renamed his country "Zhao State".

However, the state of Zhao soon became two states, and Shile in the east established its own state, also known as "Zhao". Therefore, Liu Yao's country was called "Former Zhao", and Shile's was called "Later Zhao".

In general, the fact that both Liu Yao and his successors used "Zhao" as their country name and surname shows the importance of the concept of the five elements in the politics and society of the time.

The question of the state names of Later Zhao and Former Zhao has always troubled Liu Yao, and although he set the capital in Chang'an, Chang'an never belonged to the Zhao state. In contrast, Shile set up the capital in Xiangguo, which was not only the territory of Zhao, but also the capital of Zhao King Zhao Xie and Zhang Er during the Chu and Han dynasties, so it is more justified that Shile made the capital here.

Therefore, the Later Zhao eventually eliminated the Former Zhao and unified the north, although for the sake of distinction, we call it the Later and Later Zhao, but they all consider themselves to be "Zhao States". However, after Zhao was overthrown by Ran Min, he established Ran Wei, after that, there were few regimes with "Zhao" as the name of the country, the only exception was the "Zhao State" established by Wang Rong in the early years of the Five Dynasties, but it was soon wiped out by Li Cunmiao, the emperor of Tang Zhuangzong.

Why didn't the warlords who seized Hebei and Shanxi choose "Zhao" as their country name? This is because their main stronghold is not in the state of Zhao. Although during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the northern secession did exist in the Zhao area, their strongholds were all in Yecheng.

Although today's Yecheng belongs to Linzhang County, Handan City, Hebei Province, and is in the same prefecture-level city as Handan, the capital of Zhao State, Yecheng belonged to Wei during the Warring States Period. Many of the names of the countries called "Wei" are derived from Yecheng.

This is why "Wei" is far more common than "Zhao" as a country name.

Handan and Yecheng live next to each other. From Cao Wei to Northern Wei, why did so many regimes with "Wei" as the name of the country appear? Yecheng emerged in the "Historical Records" because of the story of Ximen Leopard's water control, and became the earliest record in history to break bad habits.

Under the governance of the Wei State, Ye County prospered. Although it was later annexed by Zhao, Yecheng still had a close relationship with Wei in the eyes of the outside world, which also directly affected the course of history.

After the unification of the Qin Dynasty, Ye County was subordinated to Handan County. However, the locals may have had a deep nostalgia for the Wei state, so by the Han Dynasty, the place was named "Wei County".

Although the capital of Wei was Daliang, which is today's Kaifeng, Ye County has since become the representative of Wei. In other words, Yecheng is the state of Wei. One of the things that had the greatest impact on history was that Cao Cao was named the king of Wei and established the capital of Wei here, hence the name "Wei State" among the Three Kingdoms.

Therefore, Cao Wei's "Wei" not only represents the Wei State, but also represents the Yecheng of the Wei State.

Cao Cao, the hero of the troubled times in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, with his outstanding talent and firm determination, established the powerful Cao Wei. He rose to prominence during Dong Zhuo's rebellion, accumulated strength through counterinsurgency, and when he served as the assassin of Yanzhou, he collected 300,000 Yellow Turban troops, conquered Yuan Shu, and successfully gained a foothold in the north.

In the end, with his wisdom and courage in the Battle of Guandu, he burned Yuan Shao's grain and grass and won a decisive victory. Yuan Shao's base camp was in Yecheng, so it was of great significance for Cao Cao to unify the north and capture Yecheng.

Although Yuan Shao was defeated at the Battle of Guandu, several of his sons had strong forces in the north, and Yecheng happened to be located close to Hebei, so it became Cao Cao's base camp to pacify the Yuan clan.

It can be said that Yecheng was Cao Cao's lucky city, and most of his important battles began here. In the fifteenth year of Jian'an, that is, the year when Tongquetai was built, Cao Cao experienced a crushing defeat in the Battle of Chibi and lost the ability to unify all of China.

But he did not give up because of this, but paid more attention to Yecheng, built it as his capital, and built the famous Tongque Terrace there. Tongquetai is the most famous attraction in Yecheng, which bears witness to Cao Cao's wisdom and courage, and is also the place where he enjoyed himself in his later years and played with the writer Cao Zhi and others.

The legends and stories of Tongquetai are still circulating today and have become a symbol of Cao Wei.

Although the ruins of Yecheng were once prosperous and known as the capital of the "Wei State", its status is still not comparable to that of Luoyang, the imperial capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Although Luoyang suffered severe damage at the end of the Han Dynasty, in 220 AD, Emperor Cao Pi of Wei still chose to make Luoyang the capital.

However, due to the extreme ruin of Luoyang, Emperor Wei Ming carried out large-scale civil engineering works in order to restore the prosperity of the city, which not only affected Cao Wei's national strength, but even led to the inability to guarantee the logistics of 40,000 people in Liaodong, thus suffering from the condemnation of history.

Yecheng, founded by Cao Rui, the emperor of Cao Wei, was favored for its many palaces, and became the capital of choice for many kingdoms in the era of "Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms" after the collapse of the Western Jin Dynasty.

During the period of the Sixteen Kingdoms, the Later Zhao, Ran Wei, Former Yan and other regimes all set their capitals in Yecheng. As a result, this ancient city became the ancient capital of the Four Dynasties. These kingdoms chose to set the capital of Yecheng because when the north was unified, Luoyang City was the center of the north, but when the north was **, Luoyang City happened to be in the tug-of-war between the east and the west, and it was not suitable as the capital.

Therefore, Yecheng in the east has become the most suitable place to settle the capital.

Although Later Zhao, Ran Wei, and Former Yan had set the capital in Yecheng, after the reunification of the north, Luoyang became the best choice of the capital because of its important geographical location, so the Northern Wei Dynasty chose to move the capital to Luoyang after unifying the north.

The Northern Wei Dynasty was established by the Xianbei Tuoba clan and had nothing to do with Cao Cao, but why its country name was called "Wei" is a place where many people wonder. Both Cao Wei and Northern Wei are called "Wei", and the two "Wei" are so close that it is easy to confuse people who do not understand history.

For example, during the "Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties" period, did "Wei" refer to Cao Wei or Northern Wei? In the calligraphy font "Wei Tablet", does "Wei" refer to Cao Wei or Northern Wei? In fact, the former "Wei" refers to Cao Wei, and the latter "Wei" refers to the Northern Wei Dynasty.

It turned out that Tuoba Jue had prepared to use "Dai" as the country name, but although this word was used to refer to Datong, it also had a bad meaning of "substitution". At this time, the famous minister Cui Hao suggested changing the name of the country to "Wei", because the Wei State in the Warring States Period was located in the Henan area, so Wei is synonymous with the Central Plains.

At the same time, Cui Hao told Tuoba that if he wanted to enter the Central Plains, he should follow Cao Wei and annex the world step by step.

Cui Hao once said: "I personally led the six armies, swept away Middle-earth, eliminated the fierce rebellion, and obeyed from far and near." It should still be the first name, and Wei should be used as the country name. This sentence means that the Xianbei people want to inherit the Chinese civilization and orthodoxy and dominate the world.

Although some people think that the name of the Xianbei people's "Northern Wei" is "Wei", indicating that their regime was inherited from "Cao Wei", this view is not accurate. They did not feel that they were the successors of Cao Wei.

Cao Wei's "Wei" originated from Yecheng, where the king of Wei and his fief were located. Since then, both Cao Wei and the Warring States Wei have been used to refer to the Central Plains, so the "Northern Wei" was named "Wei", which has little to do with Yecheng.

February** Dynamic Incentive Plan However, fate is very peculiar, perhaps the word "Wei" has a secret connection with Yecheng. At the end of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the world was in turmoil, and the Northern Wei Dynasty was the East and West Wei Dynasty. Gao Huan and Yu Wentai finally confronted each other.

In the key battle in which Gao Huan gained control of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, the Battle of Hanling was very important. The place of Hanling is next to Yecheng, and its name is related to Han Xin, a famous general in the early Han Dynasty.

At that time, Zhu Rong, the hero of the Northern Wei Dynasty, was killed, and his nephew Zhu Zhao, although brave and good at fighting, lacked resourcefulness. Er Zhurong's subordinate Gao Huan wanted to stand on his own. He first deceived Er Zhuzhao's trust and fled to Hebei alone.

Later, Er Zhuzhao came to his senses and caught up with Gao Huan. Gao Huan is a scheming person, and he immediately made a blood alliance with Erzhu Zhao. The next day, when Gao Huan walked away, someone suggested that Erzhu Zhao catch up and kill him, but Erzhu Zhao woke up like a dream.

Later, Gao Huan came to Hebei and won the support of the Hebei clan. He openly broke with Erzhu Zhao, and the two sides fought a great battle at Hanling next to Anyang City.

The victory of Han Lingshan decided the fate of the Erzhu family and laid the foundation of the Northern Qi Dynasty. With the heroic battle of Gao Aocao and his younger brother Gao Yue, Gao Huan successfully defeated Erzhu Zhao's army.

This victory gave Gao Huan enough capital to defeat Erzhu Zhao again in Guang'a, completely destroying the power of the Erzhu family. The failure of Erzhu Zhao also won the reputation of "the land of Longxing" for the Han Tomb in the northeast of Anyang City.

Therefore, the Han Tomb in the northeast of Anyang City has become a veritable "ancient capital of the six dynasties" during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and has gone through six dynasties: Cao Wei, Later Zhao, Ran Wei, Qianyan, Eastern Wei and Northern Qi.

Although the Northern Wei Dynasty was the Eastern Wei Dynasty and the Northern Qi Dynasty, they still used Yecheng as their capital, and "Wei" and Yecheng were always closely connected. The Northern Qi Dynasty was eventually destroyed by Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Yuwen Yong, and after the Northern Zhou Dynasty unified the north, it was replaced by the Sui Dynasty.

In order to prevent the resurgence of anti-Yang forces in Hebei, Yang Jian ordered the burning of Yecheng and turned a generation of famous capitals into ruins. History is so wonderful, it has left the overlap and overlap of time and space in Luoyang and Yecheng.

Due to the burning of Yecheng, its ownership has become an unsolved case in history, and Anyang has also been obtained"Ye"name. By the time of the Tang Dynasty,"Yecheng"Mainly refers to Anyang.

The rulers of the Tang Dynasty had always maintained a high degree of vigilance against the power of Yecheng in Wei County out of consideration for guarding against the Kwantung forces. However, the Tang Dynasty ignored the fact that Wei also had a name"beams"。

Because King Hui of Wei had moved his capital to Daliang City (now Kaifeng), Wei was also called Liang. In the end, Zhu Wen, the king of Liang, who was based in Kaifeng, destroyed the Tang Dynasty.

History is always full of wonderful coincidences, and even though the Tang Dynasty founded by Zhu Wen changed its name, it was eventually defeated by Wei.

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